COVID 19 Daily Farmers Update 3/26/2020

NC State Extension Covid-19 Resources:

NCDA & CS is taking preventative measures: Important!!!!

Many counties and cities of the state are already in a shelter in place / stay at home order or have announced shelter in place orders for the near future. NCDA$CS has developed two documents as method to notify law enforcement or anyone else that a person is involved in the essential agriculture industry:

NCDA&CS sent this letter on March 25, 2020, to the five largest law enforcement associations in North Carolina to provide notice about essential employees in the agriculture industry of North Carolina. We are sharing here so our farm and agribusiness contacts can have a copy for their records.

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Webinars and Videos:

NEW: Debbie Roos, a NC extension agent at the Chatham County Center, has developed a webinar on creating a free, online store for your farm. She will walk people through the process of setting up a basic store through Square which will allow farmers to accept pre-orders and payments. The webinar is free, but registration is required. See this webpage for more information on the webinar and registration.

NEW: The Exchange Bank is offering a free, online webinar entitled “Understanding the Coronavirus Government Financial Resource Options for your Small Business.” It will take place Thursday, March 26, 2020, at 5:00 p.m. EST. While it is free, it requires registration beforehand.

Financial Aid

The stimulus package approved by the Senate on Wednesday (3/25) includes aid for the agricultural sector, and it awaits approval by the House of Representatives. Among the many benefits included in the bill, $9.5 billion would be added to the CCC account specifically for livestock and specialty crops (like fruit, vegetables, and nuts). The article in Agri-Pulse also reports on other important elements of the bill:

“$15.5 billion for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to cover an expected increase in demand as a result of the pandemic.

$8.8 billion for child nutrition programs.

$450 million for The Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TEFAP, which funds food distribution to food banks.

$33 million to the Food Safety and Inspection Service to cover the cost of temporary and intermittent workers, relocation of inspectors and overtime costs.

$25 million for the Rural Utilities Service to support telemedicine and distance learning services in rural areas.

$4 million to cover the cost of repatriating Foreign Agricultural Service staff”

NC Rapid Recovery Loan Program launched for small businesses with a funding source of $15 million. Managed by the NC Rural Center, loans can be given to eligible businesses for up to $50,000 with zero interest and no payments for up to six months. See the news release for more information.

RAFI-USA has announced to help NC farmers by issuing mini-grants for affected businesses. Please sign up here to receive updates via email directly from RAFI.

Please refer to the links below for financial resources that we have included in our previous updates:

Labor

Agricultural work is considered essential work. If the state issues a stay-at-home or shelter-in-place order, farmers and agricultural employees are still allowed to leave their homes to attend work. They will need printed documentation declaring their status, and it is recommended that they keep this documentation in their car or on their person. This document was created by the NCDA&CS is provided here and on the NCDA&CS COVID-19 website. Please also see the update posted on the NCSU Extension website explaining how the NCDA&CS is planning to assist farmers and agribusinesses in the event of a stay-at-home or shelter-in-place order.

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NC State Extension is the largest outreach program at NC State University.
Based in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, we reach millions of
North Carolina citizens each year through local centers in the state's 100 counties
and with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
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About Strawberry Growers Information

North Carolina ranks third in national production of fresh market strawberries with an estimated 2,000 acres of strawberry plasticulture production and a farm gate value of about 20 million dollars. The North Carolina strawberry industry is highly decentralized and is almost entirely based on small-to medium-size family farms, selling at U-pick and ready-pick roadside stands and in farmers markets in all 100 counties. North Carolina is a leading state in ‘direct marketing’ of strawberries, and has one acre of strawberries per 4,500 people. The majority of the strawberries produced in North Carolina are grown in an annual hill plasticulture system (called ‘plasticulture’) with less than 100 acres of the matted row system in the foothills and mountains of North Carolina. The advantages of strawberry plasticulture production and marketing include a 5-7 week harvest season in the spring compared to about 2-3 weeks for matted row. In addition, there is no longer a breeding program in North Carolina for the development of matted row varieties, but there is a very active strawberry breeding program for plasticulture varieties that is led by Dr. Gina Fernandez, Dept. of Horticultural Science.

The main plasticulture variety in the mountains and piedmont today is Chandler. This is a good all-round variety for direct marketing. The main variety grown in the Sandhills and Eastern NC is Camarosa. Camarosa is a larger berry than Chandler, and it also has better shelf-life and resistance to rain damage than Chandler. However, Camarosa is more cold sensitive than Chandler, and growers in the piedmont, foothills and mountain are strongly advised to the use winter row covers with Camarosa.

Extension agents and growers can find research-based information specific to North Carolina strawberry production on this site, whether the information originated in the Department of Horticultural Science, Agricultural and Resource Economics, Plant Pathology, Entomology or the State Climate Office. Success in agriculture requires a multidisciplinary approach. The goal in designing information portals is to save growers and Extension agents time and effort by creating a one-stop shop for a specific agricultural commodity, in this case, strawberries.

NC State University and N.C. A&T State University work in tandem, along with federal, state and local governments, to form a strategic partnership called N.C. Cooperative Extension, which staffs local offices in all 100 counties and with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.